Page 48 - July 2017 inLeague and Conference Program

ConferenCe speAKers

Aaron Bare, Director of Marketing for Etix, brings more than 15 years of venue marketing and management
experience in sports, concerts and the performing arts to Etix and its client marketing division, Rockhouse
Partners. With an extensive knowledge of both traditional and modern marketing practices, Aaron believes
Rockhouse Partners' purpose is to practically blend the advantages of modern digital marketing with the real-
word, everyday needs of their Etix clients. The only metric for success at Rockhouse is client satisfaction.

Janis Barlow is a consultant in arts and heritage resource management, specializing in the development
of cultural resources and, in particular, the design and management of theatres for the performing arts.
Her background combines comprehensive project planning and management experience. Her practical
experience embraces the full range of technical, artistic and administrative roles. In 1981, she accepted a
contract with Ontario’s Ministry of Culture and Recreation as a Theatre Consultant to analyze planning and
feasibility studies for Ministry funded theatre projects. From 1985 to 1990, she served as Project Manager for
the $30 million Elgin and Winter Garden theatre rehabilitation, overseeing planning, design, administration,
construction and fund raising. Barlow has served on several Boards of Directors including the Toronto Theatre
Alliance, World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre (an international UNESCO project), the Theatre
Museum Canada, the League of Historic American Theatres, Carousel Players and The Foster Festival, named
for famed Canadian playwright, Norm Foster. She was the founding President of Arts Consultants Canada. She
holds degrees in drama and sociology from the University of Guelph and studied architecture and design at
Ryerson University and George Brown College in Toronto.

Jonathan Baron is Executive Associate at Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA, where he is in charge of non-
traditional bookings.

John Bell is an experienced historic theatre leader having successfully managed two different historic theatre
projects over his career. He began his career in arts administration with the North Carolina Arts Council and
later assumed duties as the Managing Director of the historic Carolina Theatre in Greensboro, NC in 1979.
After he assumed management responsibilities in Tampa in 1985, Tampa Theatre revamped its programming
to include a heavy mix of first run and classic films supplemented by concerts, education programs and
special events. This successful formula remains in place today, as the Theatre presents approximately 535 film
events, 20 major concerts, 45 educational field trips, four weeks of summer camp, and scores of corporate
and community events a year. In spite of having a stage depth of only 8', Tampa Theatre's annual attendance
averages 140,000 a year and remains one of the busiest venues in the country. John has served on the Board
of Directors of the League of Historic American Theatres, is a member of Rotary, the Florida Facility Managers
Association, the Florida Professional Presenters Consortium, the Tampa Cultural Executives Council, and was a
founding member of the Ybor City Cultural Heritage Consortium. John holds a BA degree in Theatre Arts from
Catawba College in North Carolina.

Brooke Bernard is the first full-time development director of the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, TN. Previously, she
was an independent film producer whose films premiered at film festivals across the world including Sundance,
Cannes and Rotterdam. She has a deep knowledge of and passion for independent filmmaking, and of the
cultural/economic role of art houses in communities.

Lee Berry is an entertainment industry veteran with over 20 years' experience promoting concerts and festivals
before joining the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI in 2004. He is passionate about community-based, mission-
driven theatres and the role of philanthropy in making them successful. Lee holds both BA and MBA degrees
from the University of Michigan.

Meredith Arms Bzdak, Ph.D., an architectural historian, is a Partner in the Princeton, NJ firm Mills + Schnoering
Architects, LLC. As Associate Graduate Faculty at Rutgers University in the Art History Department, she teaches
classes on the development of the modern city, the preservation of the recent past, and modern Italian
architecture. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of DOCOMOMO US and DOCOMOMO New York/
Tri-State and is the author of Public Sculpture in New Jersey; Monuments to Collective Identity. She holds a BA in
Art History from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD in Art History from Rutgers University.

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